WEATHER: Bright and sunny with temperatures in the 80s. Could drop into the 70s by the late innings, but should remain sunny throughout.

THREE DOWN: The Yankees have lost three in a row at home, matching their longest home losing streak of the season. Under Joe Girardi, the Yankees lost four in a row at home once in 2008 and once in 2009.

THREE TIMES: Last night was the third time the Yankees hit six home runs in a loss. According to Elias, they also did it in 1999 (Knoblauch, Ledee, two from O’Neill, two from Posada) and in 1950 (Berra, Coleman, DiMaggio, Henrich, two from Bauer).

THREE IS THE NUMBER: The Yankees magic number to clinch a playoff spot remains three.

MORE THAN THREE: The Yankees have allowed seven or more runs and 10 or more hits in back-to-back games for the first time since August 15-16, 1945 in St. Louis.

UPDATE, 4:48 p.m.: Ivan Nova got through the top six hitters in this Red Sox lineup, and now it’s the bottom third that’s given him trouble. A hit batter, walk and single have loaded the bases with no outs in the third inning.

UPDATE, 4:53 p.m.: How long is the leash on Nova? Maybe not nearly as long as the past two times out. Dave Robertson is already getting loose in the bullpen. The Red Sox have taken a 2-0 lead with two outs in the third.

UPDATE, 4:59 p.m.: RBI single by David Ortiz pushed the Boston lead to 3-0 before Nova got out of the third with a ground ball to third base. He’s at 55 pitches.

UPDATE, 5:26 p.m.: First time against the bottom of the order, Nova hit a guy, walked a guy and allowed a single. Second time through, he got the bottom three to strikeout, ground out, ground out. This might be nothing more than the growing pains of a young pitcher. After the final runner reached in that three-run third, Nova got the next six hitters out, without letting the ball leave the infield.

UPDATE, 5:28 p.m.: Now Nova’s in trouble again. A two-out double and two-out walk have put two on for David Ortiz in the fifth.

UPDATE, 5:32 p.m.: Ring got a weak ground ball, but it was just far enough up the middle to get past Cano for an RBI single. Now it’s trusted setup man Chad Gaudin coming in to face Beltre.

UPDATE, 5:44 p.m.: The Yankees finally got a base runner on Alex Rodriguez’s walk, but Cano immediately grounded into a double play, Thames struck out and Jon Lester is through five hitless innings. A 4-0 deficit looks pretty big right now.

UPDATE, 5:55 p.m.: Gaudin’s kept the score right where it was. It’s still 4-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth. A nice catch from Austin Kearns helped.

UPDATE, 6:01 p.m.: The Yankees won’t be no-hit today. Francisco Cervelli dumped a single that Daniel Nava couldn’t quite catch, leaving two on with one out for the top of the order in the sixth.

UPDATE, 6:03 p.m.: With Lester dealing a rookie in left field, the Yankees took a shot, but Nava made a good throw and Austin Kearns was out at the plate. It’s still 4-0. Now up to Swisher.

UPDATE, 6:10 p.m.: Back-to-back home runs off Gaudin. It’s now 6-0.

UPDATE, 6:55 p.m.: The two big boys from Scranton, Romulo Sanchez and Jonathan Albaladejo, stranded runners to keep the score 6-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth. Lester is finally finished after seven innings of two-hit ball.

UPDATE, 7:14 p.m.: Curtis Granderson’s sixth home run in the past 10 games has put the Yankees on the board, but it’s still a 6-2 deficit heading into the ninth.